LAFAYETTE – In making their case for a proposed income tax for public safety – one that would cost $65 a year for Tippecanoe County residents making $40,000 – police chiefs and mayors on Thursday framed what they called a dire situation in Greater Lafayette.

A vote on the proposed income tax, they said, was nothing short of a vote of confidence needed by police officers, firefighters and the court system.

“We must invest in our people in order to keep our profession noble,” Lafayette Police Chief Pat Flannelly told Tippecanoe County Council members during a Thursday evening public hearing that skewed heavily to law enforcement’s pitch for a tax increase.

“At some point, everything reaches a breaking point,” Flannelly said. “And my gut is telling me that in law enforcement, even in our county, as successful as we’ve been, we’re reaching that point. And it’s time now for us to invest.”

By the end of the hearing, which included questions from some skeptical taxpayers, Tippecanoe County Council members were hesitant about predicting how their vote would go next week on a proposed 0.18 percent income tax expected to raise $8.2 million a year.

Bryan Metzger, the council president, said the council, still finalizing the county’s 2020 budget, was sorting out questions about a tax that would have to be dedicated to police, courts, emergency medical services, jails and other public safety needs.

The council’s decision is expected after an 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, public hearing at the County Office Building, 20 N. Third St.

The tax would need the approval of at least 51 percent of the county’s Local Income Tax Council, which is made up of the county, Lafayette, West Lafayette and the towns of Battle Ground, Clarks Hill, Dayton, Otterbein and Shadeland. Each of those gets a weighted vote on local income tax questions. Essentially, it would take the blessing of two of the biggest three – Lafayette, West Lafayette and Tippecanoe County – to go into effect.

On Thursday, Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski sent a letter to the council lending his support for the tax. West Lafayette John Dennis came to do the same. Both mayors retired after careers with the Lafayette Police Department.

“One thing we know for sure, there’s a direct, proportionate relationship between a community’s investment in crime prevention and suppression and the overall crime rate,” Dennis said. “When we brag about how safe our communities are, obviously it’s because of the heroic efforts of the men and women who are in the field and on the street in law enforcement. That doesn’t happen cheaply.”

Vicki Burch, a former Tippecanoe County Council and West Lafayette City Council member, questioned whether the county had exhausted ways to pay for public safety costs before turning to an income tax.

“I would like to request the council, the department heads and other county employees that they thoroughly research other avenues or sources where this (local income tax) request could be funded,” Burch said.

Much of Thursday’s session was given to what police and fire officials said were needs.

Bob Plantenga, Tippecanoe County’s auditor, said the percentage of the county’s general fund budget dedicated to public safety needs had grown from 37.4 percent in 2009 to 42.4 percent in 2018. In the coming year, the county will have to figure out how to fund a new court, Tippecanoe Superior Court 7, he said.

Plantenga broke down county spending for three areas: the prosecutor, the public defender and the sheriff’s office and county jail. In 2010, spending on those was a little over $12 million. In 2018, spending was $17.6 million. That’s a $5.6 million, or 46 percent increase.

“It’s taking more of the budget, that’s all,” Plantenga said. “We’re getting to the point where nearly half of the budget is for law enforcement.”

Tippecanoe County residents already pay 1.1 percent in local income taxes, which are dedicated to economic development, among other things. At 1.1 percent, Tippecanoe County ranks 74th among Indiana’s 92 counties for local income tax rates. At 1.28 percent, Tippecanoe County would rank 68th.

Flannelly spoke for 35 minutes about how Lafayette – “despite what some people want to say” – is a safe place to live, though the city’s growth has put pressures on his department.

Tippecanoe County’s population is up 10 percent since 2010 – 173,045 to 190,587 in 2017 – according to the most recent U.S. Census estimates.

Flannelly said 911 calls to Lafayette had gone from 76,000 in 2008 to 107,000 in 2018 – a 40.7 percent increase. Between 2015 and 2018, drug arrests during an opioid epidemic had gone from 6,268 to 9,401 – a 49.9 percent increase. He said those came as the department tried to stay ahead of growth in online and identity fraud in an age when what he called “the CSI effect” had public expectations high for police solving those cases quickly.

Flannelly also made the case for what he considered the “constant drubbing” of police officers, which made it more difficult to recruit new officers and an arms race among agencies to get and keep the ones they had.

“I’m not an alarmist, but I want to stand here today and I do want to sound the alarm that the circumstances in American law enforcement are beginning to become dire,” Flannelly said.

West Lafayette Police Chief Troy Harris said his department had a 77 percent increase in calls in the past 10 years. He said the city had added three officers in that time.

“I’m not a big tax guy,” Harris said. “But this is an absolute must. We cannot do police work in 2019 like we did in 2010. Our community doesn’t accept that.”

If approved by the end of October, the tax would wind up on Tippecanoe County residents’ paychecks starting on Jan. 1, 2020. Of the estimated $8.2 million the tax would raise, Tippecanoe County would get $3.99 million, Lafayette would get $3.1 million and West Lafayette would get $971,900, with the smaller towns getting the rest, according to an analysis by Plantenga.

Jennifer Teising, Wabash Township trustee, urged the county council to consider putting some of that money toward township fire protection. She argued that her township’s department made 1,100 runs a year just outside West Lafayette, depending on a nearly all volunteer force.

In a twist Thursday, Teising also returned to the podium, speaking as a private resident, pleaded with county council members to keep people in low-paying jobs in mind when considering an income tax.

Trent Cole, a Lafayette resident, asked the council members to consider a food and beverage tax instead of an income tax. (State Rep. Sheila Klinker, a Lafayette Democrat, said after the hearing that past proposals for food and beverage taxes have been non-starters in Greater Lafayette because of push back from the food service industry.)

Zachary Baiel, an independent candidate for West Lafayette mayor, questioned whether the community’s population growth was sustainable, given the pressures outlined by police, firefighters and prosecutors.

But, at one point, county council member John Basham asked Flannelly to go over the 911 statistics, again.

“That had a profound impact on me,” Basham said. “It’s not going to get any better.”

IF YOU GO: The Tippecanoe County Council will consider a proposed 0.18 percent public safety income tax at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, in the County Office Building, 20 N. Third St. A vote is expected to follow a public hearing.

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.